The American economy added 638,000 jobs in October, just slightly better than expectations, according to a Friday morning report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That lowered the unemployment rate to 6.9 percent from the previous month’s rate of 7.9%, also better than expected. Jobs were added mostly in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction. Even so, the economy still has to recover about 10 million jobs that have been lost since the pandemic-induced business closures that began in March. Also, the current surge of COVID-19 cases remains a grave threat and could negatively impact businesses anew.
Unemployment rate falls to 6.9 percent as 638,000 jobs added in October
